Worcesteria: December 31st, 2015

Thursday

Dec 31, 2015 at 5:01 AM

Above: Joe Santa Maria photo Below is a look back on notable events from the past year, filtered through a Worcesteria lens and a photo of Main Street Worcester a few days after we had we had sunny skies and 60-degree weather, as a reminder that no matter what happens in all the months in between, the year is always going to start and end the same way – with Mother Nature vomiting all over the city and screwing up everyone’s commute. Here’s to a Happy New Year. January: “That the City Council go on record in support of the Worcester Police Department and the department’s high level of professionalism, leadership in community relations and dedication to the citizens of Worcester.” That was City Councilor Konnie Lukes’ proposed resolution, which ended up passing 9-2, while a similar resolution stating that “all lives matter” passed 11-0. The whole thing came on the heels of national attention focused on (usually white) police killings of (usually young) black men, with a huge number of protesters showing up to the Council through a few meetings to call the timing bad and the resolution hurtful, with some pointing to brutality lawsuits against the WPD and referencing personal anecdotes of violence. Later in the month, the Kelley Square Four blocked the bustling intersection for four and a half minutes as Black Lives Matter protest. They did it along with dozens of allies, although only four people were picked out by the WPD and subsequently charged with disturbing the peace in a court case that — as of publication — is still ongoing.

February: Melinda Boone, the ex-Worcester Public Schools superintendent and part-time lighting rod, held a meeting at North High School for parents to address a series of bomb threats and assaults. North was a huge part of the city’s conversation in 2015, with the incidents — which administrators would say were perpetrated by a small minority of students — affecting everything from political ambitions to newspaper coverage to, we assume, actual students’ lives. Parents complained there was not a whole lot of notice for the meeting, and the administration gave a generous, unverified estimate of 33 parent attendees. They optimistically ordered 50 Ciao Bella pizzas for the event, sending people home with uneaten ‘za. Both the number of parents and quality of the pizza went unverified by local reporters, who were banned from the meeting in what appears to be the first sign that the WPS were turning to the Dark Side (as opposed to the Transparent Side). Boone would announce her departure for greener pastures in her home state of Virginia later in the year, causing a fracas over her successor that is still ongoing.

March: The city of Worcester reached an agreement with New Hampshire developer Brady Sullivan, selling them the old Worcester County Courthouse for $1.2 million. The deal was touted as a clear win for the administration, as the city had taken over the site from the state for $1 one year prior, and proponents celebrated the preservation of a historic structure and the addition of mixed-use residential and retail space to a “no man’s land” on north Main Street. The Worcester Community-Labor Coalition, however, showed up to discussions wearing bright orange stickers advocating for local jobs to remind the city’s power elite that they can ask for things in negotiations with developers. In this case, the agreement was amended to include provisions requiring the developer to ask for permission before selling the building to a taxexempt organization and an agreement to not seek an “HDIP” tax break deal. Although Brady Sullivan also pledged to use “best efforts” to hire 50 percent of its labor from local labor sources, WCLC members also raised questions about the developer’s track record, and complaints that have been filed against it in the past.

April: April was quite the month for Worcester’s lackluster sports scene. The Worcester Sharks hockey team played its last game in the DCU Center before moving back to California to be closer to its parent team, the San Jose Sharks. Later in the year, it would be revealed that Worcester may get a replacement team in the future from the ECHL, one level below the American Hockey League the Sharks played in. That month was also when talk of a merger of the Holden and Worcester tennis clubs was discussed. That was significant because the club actually voted to try to enter into a public-private partnership with the city of Worcester, which would have kept the club in the city and taken the $500,000 it had on hand and added it to money from the city to upgrade the tennis courts at Elm Park. That plan was scuttled, and in possibly related news, there was vocal public opposition to the plan. The Telegram broke the story, but decided the best person to write it would be a member of the Holden club (which stood to benefit from a merger), so they can’t be awarded any points for it. In addition to all that, a couple Worcester State University students got their film about the Worcester Tornadoes and Bravehearts baseball teams on NESN as part of a contest.

June: The last in a series of U.S. Department of Justice facilitated talks – not counting the actual last one, which was more of a summary – was held at Worcester Tech. The talks were held weekly to address topics such as representative government and the media through the lens of race. Proponents said the talks helped with the racial climate in Worcester – opponents said they were a waste of time that accomplished nothing. Like so many things, though, both sides probably came to those conclusions before the events even happened. The whole series started shortly after white WPD officer Michael Motyka was arrested for an alleged raciallycharged beating of a handcuffed black prisoner.

July: The Boynton Park Brawl had all the elements of a great newspaper story – violence, public employees, doggies and pissed off residents just aching to give a great quote. The undisputed facts of the case are, since the city of Worcester bans dogs in all its parks, dog lovers turned Boynton Park in Paxton (although the park is still Worcester property) into a de facto dog park. On July 5, a Worcester Parks employee drove over a makeshift barricade residents at the park had erected at the entrance to a large field and drove away, creating quite a scene. From there, stories about what happened differ. Dog lovers said the employee had been a problem for months before the incident, and escalated things. They also characterized his exit as a hit and run, as one resident said the fleeing car brushed him, hurting his hand and breaking his watch. The employee, who was let go by a city administration already under pressure to do something – anything – about the years-long dog park deficit, said he was ordered to go to the park multiple times per day despite his fear of dogs, that he did not see the barricade before driving through it and did not mean to hit anyone, and that he was actually sympathetic to dog owners’ complaints of being put in a no-win situation by the city.

August: When a Worcester SWAT team and state police raided a Hillside Street apartment on Aug. 19, they were looking for Shane Jackson on a “no-knock” warrant. Jackson had a different address on file multiple places, including with the parole officer he was checking in with regularly, but based on their best guess at the time, police went into Marianne Diaz’s apartment with guns drawn. Diaz’s story drew sympathy from many in the community, as she had her young daughters with her and was naked at 5:30 a.m. when the officers burst in, and said her daughters were traumatized while her fiancee and a roommate both sustained injuries. Police had a different take on the event, of course, addressing open letters specifically to the reporter who broke the story – the Telegram’s Brad Petrishen – saying the officers acted professionally, did nothing wrong and the vulgar language Diaz recounted would have been avoided so as not to confuse residents who might think a SWAT raid was home invasion. Perish the thought.

October: The city and Preservation Worcester announced a plan to save Stearns Tavern, one of he oldest documented buildings in the city, from demolition. The owner had applied for a permit to tear down the building, although he said he wanted to see it moved to a good home, and the powers that be came through with a plan for Preservation Worcester to pay for operating costs until the building can be relocated to the old Coes Knife site next Spring, at which point the city will take ownership. The site, planned to be a universally-accessible playground near Coes Pond, will be a perfect fit for the historic building, proponents said.

November: There was a hotly contested City Council election in November, one that lead to a recount, then not a recount, with some sharp words interspersed. Rick Rushton decided not to run for reelection, so Khrystian King edged out Juan Gomez to claim the sixth spot on the at-large panel. All five other incumbents won reelection, because something something machine politics, although Mike Gaffney did make a run at Joe Petty for mayor that, while unsuccessful, resulted in his ascension to the vice-chair seat. The only district seat to change was District 2, where Phil Palmieri ran at-large before deciding to withdraw, leaving the door open for Candy Mero Carlson to defeat Jennithan Cortes. On the School Committee side, Donna Colorio reclaimed a seat, while Molly McCullough won her first campaign, booting off Tracy O’Connell Novick and Hilda Ramirez. Oh, and some guy named Donald Trump came to town and packed the DCU Center for one night.

Reporter Tom Quinn can be reached at 508-749-3166 x324 or tquinn@worcestermagazine.com with story ideas, feedback, or questions. Follow him on Twitter @bytomquinn